An Ideal, A Dream, and a Requiem
by the girl you wouldn't expect
Summary: Lailana is a young girl with a sole dream (or so she thinks); getting to see meteor falls! Her dream comes from the heart, yet she never has the guts to leave home to achieve it. Life is hard. Landon is a young boy with several ideals. In other words, he believes in gut feelings. Yet, he never has the heart to go for a certain someone that could help fulfill a certain ideal.
1. Prologue

It was an ordinary day. Two weeks had passed since the Manningtons' had moved into the quiet little town in Hoenn; Verdanturf. It was quite a shift from the hustle and bustle of Rustboro, but Lailana's father grew irksome with the constant visits of new trainers. It did not help that the city was a widely-known tourist spot.

While it meant that Lailana would have to start school later, it was worth the uproot in Mr. and Mrs. Mannington's eyes.

Of course, this meant that Lailana also had to leave her two closest friends behind; Katarina and Holden.

Katarina was a short, but spunky girl with hair that resembled the color of the legendary land Pokemon; Groudon. Her usual outfit consisted of a t-shirt, and capris with sparkles on them. The t-shirt was more often than not covered with a paint splattered smock, as Katarina loved to paint pictures of various fire type Pokemon. When Lailana had left Rustboro, Katarina had been obsessed with the Numel line. She claimed there was a beauty in how tired Numel always appeared.

Holden was an observant young boy with spiky black hair. His clothing typically consisted of a navy colored blazer and black shorts. He claimed that his top half was ready for business, and the rest of him was ready for fun.

The three of them were the best of friends. Katarina constantly played little pranks at the trainer's school, (dragging Lailana and Holden into it) and ran away when the professors would chase after them. Sneaking into the Devon Corporation was Holden's favorite thing to do, as he loved to spy on what new technology they were meant to come out with. And Lailana loved to dream about one day visiting Meteor Falls, claiming she would meet the love of her life there. Katarina and Holden may have made fun of her for it, but that didn't mean they never tried to take Lailana there.

Alas, they never got the chance before Lailana moved to Verdanturf.

The best part of living in Rustboro was when Roxanne would spend time with them. She was the coolest gym leader by far in Lailana's eyes. Sometimes, if Katarina was on her best behavior and promised not to pull pranks, Roxanne would let the three of them command her Geodude around for fun! Roxanne had even told Lailana that she could be a gym leader one day if she wanted to be.

"Honey, it's been long enough now. Instead of staring out that window, why don't you go and try to make friends with one of the other kids? I heard that there's a new boy visiting his relatives here for the rest of summer. He came here all the way from Petalburg City. That's even further than Rustboro. You should go say hello," Mrs. Mannington urged her daughter. Lailana hopped down from the window sill, her mint green hair bouncing along with her movements. The gray eyes she inherited from her mother were downcast.

"But I don't want new friends. I want to play with Katarina and Holden," Lailana whined softly. There was one member of the Manningtons' who was _not _happy about the move.

"I know you miss them, and I promise we will go back to visit once in a while, but while we're here, it would be great if you tried to meet some new people. And who knows, you might find someone you already know," Mrs. Mannington said ominously, wiping her hands on her cooking apron.

"But…"

"No buts Lailana. Run along now. By the time you get back, dinner will be ready," Mrs. Mannington commanded, pointing to the door. Lailana sighed.

Verdanturf was so boring! It was small, there weren't many kids, and there was nothing to do! The only thing that seemed of any interest were flowers. Lailana supposed she could pick some and fill her mother's empty vase. But she did not want to make friends with some new kid. Especially not one from Petalburg City.

Holden warned her and Katarina never to make friends with people from Petalburg City. He said they were really aggressive trainers with Pokemon that could eat your face off! He'd even said that the gym leader there, Norman, was ruthless with kids!

In any case, Lailana waited until her mother secured a lavender ribbon in her hair (to keep it out of her face), and headed outside.

The naturistic scent of gladiolus' and freshly cut grass permeated through the air. Lailana smiled. That was one plus side to living in Verdanturf. The air was clean and was rumored to make people feel healthier. Maybe this place wouldn't be so bad.

"Hey, you're Orkin's girl, Lailana right?" A voice called out. Lailana looked up to see a friendly young man with a big mustache. He was seated on the grass, seemingly planting something before he stood up to grin at her. The mint haired girl nodded shyly.

"You've gotten so big! I'm your father's friend from work. My name is Enton, do you remember me?" He asked kindly, now leaning down so that Lailana did not have to look up as much to see him. The nerve-filled girl shook her head slowly, childish mind not understanding that it was not the best response. Luckily, Enton laughed at her antics and continued on.

"You and my son Landon used to play together every year when you'd visit Verdanturf for Halloween, remember. Want to go say hello? He's over by Rusturf Tunnel," Enton offered, gesturing north of where the two stood. Lailana vaguely remembered what Enton was talking about.

Brief flashes of memories burst into her mind. She remembered that she and some silver haired boy would wear matching costumes. One that she could clearly remember was last year when she had worn a Gardevoir outfit and the boy had worn a Gallade one. Meeting with him seemed like a better option than meeting the boy from Petalburg.

"Okay," She acquiesced softly, rushing off into the direction of Rusturf Tunnel. She'd heard her father say that it was a shortcut to Rustboro City. Maybe she could sneak her way there and away from the boring town of Verdanturf.

When Lailana reached the entrance to the cave, the silver-haired boy she unsurely remembered was already there. He was seated on the grass and wore a black leather jacket paired oddly with dark gray cargo pants. In his hand was a berry of some sort. It was peach in color and shaped a little like a strawberry.

"What are you doing?" Lailana asked innocently, covering her mouth when the boy startled, dropping the fruit to the ground.

"Don't sneak up on people like that!" he chided, more out of embarrassment than anything else. After his shout, he reached for the berry and inspected it for any bruising.

"Sorry. Your dad told me to come play with you. I'm Lailana," She greeted, curtseying softly. It was a habit she'd picked up in Rustboro. Roxanne told her it was a sign of elegance. However, this boy seemed to think it was just weird.

"Um okay. I'm Landon. I can't really play right now. I'm trying to grow a Pecha plant," He explained, sounding years beyond his age.

"Isn't that the one that heals poison?" Lailana asked smartly. She'd learned that from the blackboard at the trainer's school back home. Landon peered up from the grass and seemed to really look at Lailana this time.

"Yeah, that's actually right. Where'd you come from?" He asked, interest piqued. Lailana smiled and thought of home.

"Rustboro City. It's so cool! We've got a trainer school, gym, and even the Devon Corporation over there. And when the weather's nice, Dad takes me, Katarina, and Holden to Petalburg woods for a picnic!" Lailana exclaimed. Landon did not share the sentiment if his bored expression was anything to go by.

"Rustboro? Big deal. Have you ever been to Lilycove City?" He asked, cocking his head smugly. Lailana frowned. Lilycove City? She hadn't even heard of the place. She shook her head to convey as much.

"Well I have. I've been practically everywhere that means anything. Even Sootopolis City. And it's awesome. It's an entire city underwater," Landon boasted, his head held high. Lailana did not like his attitude. Why did he have to be so rude about it? She would have expressed interest in his words if he had been friendly about them.

"Well maybe you should've stayed there," Lailana muttered under her breath. Landon picked up on it however and glared at the mint haired girl.

"Well maybe you should've stayed in Rustboro," He sneered, crossing his arms. The berry fell from his grasp in the process, and Lailana took advantage of that. The mint haired girl dove for the berry and grabbed it before Landon could. The boy turned angrily and started marching at Lailana.

"Give that back to me. Now," He demanded, looming toward her. Lailana pursed her lips and shook her head.

"No way. Come and get it if you want it so bad," She taunted, rushing off toward the eastern end of Verdanturf.

Despite the fact that she was in the middle of a fight, Lailana couldn't help but feel a thrill. She hadn't run this fast ever since she moved from home. It felt good that the wind was whipping at her face once more. The only problem was that there was an angry boy chasing after her this time. Usually, Katarina and Holden would be running alongside her.

"Give my berry back you thief!" He cried out in determination, tailing Lailana. The mint haired girl refused to stop and kept running until she reached an unfamiliar building. Oh no. had she trekked too far from home?

'Pokemon Day Care. We take care of Pokemon!' Lailana read. There were Pokemon in this building?! She simply had to check that-

"Ow!" she suddenly cried, hitting the floor. Above her sat an unamused Landon. He held the berry in front of Lailana's face and appeared to be waiting for an apology. Unlucky for him, Lailana burst into laughter. In fact, she laughed so hard, Landon fell off of her and onto the ground. Still, she laughed and laughed to her heart's content. Not even the slowly forming bruise on her knee stopped the action.

"You're weird," He commented, wrinkling his nose. Still, there was a hint of a smile on his lips. Lailana snorted and stood up, offering Landon a hand.

"It's kind of cool that you've been to so many different places. You've seen all of Hoenn probably," Lailana admitted with a sigh. It must have been nice to travel that much. All Lailana wanted was to visit Meteor falls. She never thought about seeing the rest of Hoenn one day. Maybe she could start compiling a list of places to see one day.

"Well," Landon started, rubbing his arm nervously. "Not all of Hoenn. I've never been to Rustboro, Landon admitted with a little guilt.

"Well I think you'd like it there. It's huge and there's so much to do," Lailana beamed. Maybe they could go back together one day. It could be fun, and Holden would have another guy to talk to.

"And I'm sure you'd like Sootopolis. The water on the surface of the City matches your hair," He commented shyly, moving his foot awkwardly in the grass. Lailana smiled and then thought about where she really wanted to go in the world.

"While that sounds amazing, I've always really wanted to see Meteor Falls," She admitted to him. Landon rose his eyebrows. But to Lailana, it didn't matter if she saw every other place in the world. If she didn't get to see Meteor Falls, what would be the point?

"That's not too far from where you used to live. Why didn't you ever go?" He asked curiously. Lailana sighed and plopped back down on the grass. Landon followed suit, waiting for her answer.

"Well, Mom and Dad always said it was too dangerous and that I had to wait until I had a Pokemon before I went," she told Landon who widened his eyes.

"You don't have a Pokemon?! How old are you?" He asked in astonishment. Lailana appeared flustered with this question as she answered,

"Eleven."

"Eleven?! You're eleven and don't have a Pokemon? Why?!" Landon asked, growing hysterical. Lailana hushed him and tried to explain.

"My parents said I have to wait until I turn twelve until I can have one," She told him. Landon nodded, but he still didn't seem to believe it.

"That's crazy. I'm thirteen, but I've had my Pokemon since I was eight," He scoffed. Lailana elbowed him and he apologized.

"What Pokemon do you have?" She chanced asking. Landon smiled proudly and explained that it was a Mawile. He promised to show it to Lailana later.

"But yeah, you'd like Meteor falls. It's really pretty. Lots of comet shards are stuck in the ground so it's really shiny," Landon explained animatedly. Lailana swooned by Landon's explanations of how wonderous Meteor Falls was. She wanted to go now more than ever.

Nearly an hour had passed with Landon telling all his travel tales and still Lailana had not grown bored.

"I'll take you there if you want. We can go before summer is over," Landon offers sincerely. His snotty side seemed to have disappeared. Lailana beamed so bright, it put the sun to shame.

"You'd do that?" She asked, suddenly not hating the move to Verdanturf so much.

"Sure. We're friends now," He shrugged, scooting closer to her from his spot on the ground. The mint haired girl suddenly had an idea.

"Will you hold this for me?" Lailana asked, copying a tactic her father had once used on her mother. Landon appeared confused but held his hand out. Lailana laced her fingers with his and settled them onto the grass between them. If Landon had a problem with this move, he did not voice it.

In fact, Lailana had a feeling that his red cheeks said enough.

Perhaps she'd grow to like life in Verdanturf.


	2. Chapter 1

Lailana bounded down the stairs of her home, frantically tying a gray ribbon into her hair in the process. Her mother stood at the kitchen stove, flipping toast onto a pan.

Lailana sheepishly snatched a piece and popped it into her mouth unceremoniously.

"Lailana, try to have some etiquette?" Her mother sighed, smiling nonetheless as Lailana saluted a goodbye and shot out the door.

There was much to be done. Lailana had slept in the whole morning! It was now nearly noon and still not one task on her usual list of chores was done. The mint haired girl got to work immediately, devouring the last crumbs of toast.

First was making sure the tourists knew where to find the contest hall. Then, she had to go volunteer at the Pokemon Center.

Nurse Joy was nice enough to let Lailana shadow her throughout the years. The mint haired girl still wasn't sure what she wanted to be when she was older, and this was good exposure for medical school. When she wasn't helping out at the Pokemon Center, Lailana spent quite some time at the Pokemon Daycare, shadowing the daycare couple. Taking care of Pokemon was a lot of fun, but Lailana couldn't decide if she enjoyed it more than battling or not. And when it wasn't between those two things, Lailana spent her time in the contest hall. Being a coordinator sounded like such a glamerous thing. But was it what she truly wanted?

After her shift, Lailana made sure no kids were aimlessly playing in Rusturf tunnel, as it was quite dangerous at times. The shaky incident of Marie and the Whismur's uproar was a haunting enough story as it was. After _that_, Lailana scouted around for wild Pokemon that may have wandered into the town by mistake.

She remembered years ago when she managed to catch a Budew that accidentally found its way in a flower field one day. The girl had named it Amalia. Lailana thought back to that day when she'd been feeding the Budew a Kelpsey berry and it suddenly evolved into a beautiful Roselia. That had been one of the most amazing things she'd ever seen. Amalia happened to become the strongest Pokemon on her small team, and managed to give even Landon a run for his money.

Landon!

She still had her most important chore to do. Every time Landon went on a trip, he entrusted his berry plants to Lailana. The mint haired girl remembered to water them every single day, twice a day. Verdanturf never got any rain, but plentiful sunshine.

She couldn't believe she'd almost forgotten to do so. Although, to be fair, it had been a hectic morning. Lailana pulled out the friend ball she'd caught Amalia in and let the grass/poison type out. It formed with a smile and happy cry, loving the air in Verdanturf.

"I was going to water Landon's berry trees," She sings, giggling when her Roselia began jumping up and down in glee. The rose Pokemon loved water almost as much as she loved flowers.

And so the pair went around Verdanturf, watering all of Landon's plants. This time around, the white-haired boy had decided to plant Hondew, Razz, and Yache berries. Lailana enjoyed the fruity scent they provided Verdanturf with. Paired with the fragrance of flowers, it made the town smell like something out of a fairytale.

Once her final chore of the day was done, the sun began to set. Lailana and her completely soaked Roselia lay in the grass on route 117, eyes glazed in serenity. Life in Verdanturf tended to feel like that more often than not.

Lailana then sighed, resting her head above her arms as a pillow. The clouds were perfectly white and fluffy, the sky was a heavenly shade of pinkish purple, and the breeze was the ideal cool temperature. Amalia turned to her trainer and cried out in question. The mint haired girl turned to her strongest Pokemon and shrugged.

"I love it here Amalia, I really do…but I wonder when my life will truly start. I suppose it will when I finally decide what I want to do, but how on earth am I ever going to decide?" Lailana exasperates. Amalia doesn't reply to that, seeming to wait for her trainer to continue. Lailana looked into the distance and thought hard about what was really troubling her.

"I guess I just expected to have seen more of the world by now. Sure, Landon took me to see Petalburg City, and I've gone back home to Rustboro sometimes, but there's so much I _haven't _seen. Like Mossdeep City, Sootopolis City, Fallarbor Town…Meteor Falls," Lailana lists, voice softening as she went down the list. Amalia pressed her pink rose to Lailana's chest and called out a soft "Roselia."

"There's also the fact that I can't just pick one thing I want to do. I want to be a gardener, nurse, coordinator, breeder, trainer, gym leader…" Lailana trailed off. Amalia hummed and executed a little petal dance, harmonizing to make it a full performance. It was captivating with the setting sun as a background. Lailana watched in awe, wondering what caused such an action from her Pokemon.

When the petals were high in the air, Amalia shot poison stings through them, effectively causing them to hit the floor, dead. Lailana gasped and looked to her Roselia for an explanation. The Pokemon did not answer. Instead, it simply looked smug at the display. Slowly, gears began to turn in Lailana's head.

"You're saying people are like Pokemon. They don't have to just be one type. They can be multiple. And each one doesn't have to relate to the other. They can be complete opposites?" Lailana tried, smiling widely when Amalia nodded, pleased with her trainer's deduction skills.

"Then I _will _be all those things. I'll travel to all the places I want to see, starting with Meteor Falls! I can meet with Professor Cozmo in Fallarbor and shadow him for a bit so I know how to be a scientist!" Lailana cried out in happiness. Amalia didn't seem as excited to leave Verdanturf Town, but she braved a smile for her trainer anyway. It was then that Lailana's smile dropped. Amalia grew confused. What had changed the mood?

"But I can't go it alone. I don't want to travel without anyone, but who would come with me?" She asked. Amalia cocked her head to the side and then brightened with an idea. The grass/poison type disappeared for a minute, but came back with a berry lodged into her blue rose. It was a Yache berry.

"You think I should ask Landon?" Lailana inquired dryly. Her Roselia nodded in an obvious way.

"I could try asking, but he just loves to move around. He can't stay in one place like I'm used to. He'd never say yes," Lailana reasoned. Amalia answered by returning to her trainer's pokeball. The mint haired girl took that to mean that this was something she had to figure out on her own.

'Well, maybe I _should_ ask him. He's coming back tomorrow after all. The worst he'll do is say no,' Lailana told herself as she walked back home, ready to turn in for the night.


End file.
